The Paperwhite Narcissus
:
Martha's Vineyard Mysteries

Publisher's Summary

Cynthia Riggs draws from a lifetime's intimacy with fabled Martha's Vineyard and its people to create an irresistible series filled with murder and a unique atmosphere.
A small town, even one detached from the mainland, has its share of unpleasant residents. When a developer with an unhappy wife, a bullish attitude toward women, and a much-frowned-upon plan is murdered, not many tears are shed. The case naturally falls to Victoria Trumbull, the 92-year-old, sharp-witted sheriff's deputy. Served by her in-depth knowledge of the island and her indomitable drive, Victoria is on the trail again: bunions, lilac-bough cane, and all.

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This is a cozy with a clever twist. The lead character is a 92 year old female sheriff's deputy and columnist for the local paper. For those of us who can claim to be of "a certain age," that is certainly an inspiration! :-). I worried at first that those would be character qualities that would make a mystery book so unbelievable that it would be hard to listen to. Happily, I was wrong!

Victoria is a feisty lady who knows the community and has plenty of life experience and a bit of intuitive wisdom that leads other people to turn to her for help when a series of murders start occurring on the island. She seems to be able to see the same clues others see, but to draw the correct conclusions when the murders keep happening.

One thing that I noticed about this book is that Victoria tends to respect her own age-related limits. Although she has plenty of spunk, and often rallies others follow up clues (and she is often right there with them), she is not depicted as a woman who takes ridiculous chances that leave her vulnerable to danger ( as so many authors seem compelled to do with their protagonists). This supports my long-held contention that some authors contrive situations where the protagonist does dangerous (even dumb) things that belie the credibility of that person to be wise enough to put the clues together and solve the crime. I really liked that Cynthia Riggs created a truly realistic character. Women can be wise without having to be silly.

I think that Davina Porter did a great job of finding different voices for many different characters (no easy task for a cast as large as is found in this book). My only complaint was that she read it maddeningly slowly! I hope that that was not an insinuation that because the protagonist is an elderly woman, the reader (of any age) must be slow in taking in the story and clues :-)

Actually, this is a pretty neat little cozy. One murder is a trifle grisly, but we only hear about it after the fact. Though there are rather a lot of characters to sort out, it is very easy to keep up. If you are looking for something engaging but on the light side, this is surely it!